The Iksels

Dimonah was living in New York and Mehmet was living in Paris, when they met at breakfast in Rajasthan on April 1st 1988. They are both convinced there was kısmet involved in that meeting... This encounter not only united their lives it also ignited a shared passsion for painting within the tradition of Indian miniature art, in a studio which they founded. Their creative expression was to take that know how in a completely new direction, Over the years they infused this living tradition with their taste and the most sophisticated digital technology. The result is a unique and avant-garde digital image bank. Their work has been a huge task which would have been mpossible without one another and their studio.This catalogue is the representation of a present and continually evolving image bank.

Dimonah Basha Iksel was born to a family of jewellers and is of Iraqi / Hungarian origin. She was brought up in Tel-Aviv, Tehran, Geneva and Montreal. Later she lived in Calgary, New York, Jaipur, Paris and Istanbul. Dimonah is responsible for much of the artistic direction at Iksel Decorative Arts. She believes she acquired her sense of color from her travels and from working for fifteen years with gemstones as a jeweller and designer. For many years she has loved making collages and believes that her her sense of composition is a continuation of that practice.

Mehmet, born in Istanbul, is the son of a Turkish diplomat. He was brought up in various places, including Istanbul, Athens, Bonn, Rolle/Gstaad and Oxford. Most of his adult life has been spent in Paris but also in New York and Jaipur. Before taking up his present profession, he worked in the theatre as a director and acting coach. Today, when he finds precious time, he writes. He is responsible for the digital direction the company took. But also for the painting techniques which gave the gessoed, aged but not distressed look to the work. His vision of the artistic freedom and reliable roduction, turned the hand painted work into a flexible Image Bank with infinite possibilities.

Today the Iksels commute regularly between Istanbul and Paris, as they have a home and showroom in both cities.They have two sons : Sindbad born 1981 Mehmet’s son , and Kubilai, born 1995 to them both.